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CHAPTER 11 HOW, WHEN AND WHY WERE THE GOSPELS WRITTEN?
CHAPTER11HOW,WHENANDWHYWERETHEGOSPELS
WRITTEN?
WhydothinkChris?anitywaslikeimmediatelyfollowing the death, resurrec?on, andascensionofJesus?
WeneedtounderstandthecontextinwhichtheNTwaswri3en.
TheearlyChris8ansdidnotseeJesusasafounderofanewreligion,butthefulfillmentoftheold.Soearlyon,Chris8anitywasconsiderednothingmorethananotherJewishsect.AsasidenotebothChris8anityandRabbinicalJudaismsprangfromtheOTJudaism.NeitherrequiredsacrificesaFerthetemplewasdestroyedin70AD.
Chris8answeremostlyinJerusalemandmostconvertswereJewishSomecamefromoutsideJerusalemandstayedthereorwentbackhometoGalileeandspreadChris8anityThe11discipleswereTHEauthorityonJesusandtoldmanystoriestothepeople.
Discipleswouldgofromvillagetovillage.Askedtotellstoriesabouttheir8meswithJesusandwhatJesussaid.Eyewitnesswasvaluedaboveanythingwri3en.AsChris8anitybegantospread,thedisciplescouldnotbeeverywheresoapostolicwri8ngstooktheplaceofapostolicpresenceandthewri3enwordbecameama3erofgreatimportance.Thesewerewri3eninGreekbecausethatwastheuniversallanguageofthe8me
Eachvillagehadtheirownsetofstoriestoreadwhilethediscipleswereaway.Somewherealongtheline,someonedecidedtocreateacollec8onofthesestoriessotherewouldbeauniformsource.
MostJewsrejectedJesusasthefulfillmentofOTprophecyconcerningtheMessiahandtheyrejectedtheChris8anmessagesotheChris8anshadtocomeupwiththeironauthorita8vewri8ngstoseparatethemselvesfromtheJews.
Whowrotethe4Gospels?
Mathew,Mark,LukeandJohnwereprobablyallcompiledbyanonymouswelleducated,GreekspeakingChris8ansduringthesecondhalfofthefirstcentury.Theygottheirnamesbecausesome8meinthesecondcentury,theproto-orthodoxygrouprecognizedtheneedforauthorita8venamessotheya3ributedthemtoMa3hewandJohn(twoapostles),Mark(thesecretaryforPeter),andLuke(thetravelingcompanionofPaul)
TheGospelswerewri3enbetween70-90CE.That’s40-60yearsaFerthedeathofJesus
DoesitbotheryouthattheGospelswerewriMensolongaNerthedeathofJesus?
Oneofthemainreasonsforwri8ngisthattheoneswhoactuallyknewJesusweredying.AnotherreasonmightbethatJesushadnotreturnedasexpected/
ReadLuke1:1-4
Thisshowsthattherewereearliera3emptstowritedownthestoryofJesus,probablyaround50-60CEwhileatleastsomeofthe11weres8llalive.
WhatdoyouthinkabouttheseearlieraMempts?
Lukeinves8gatesthestoryofJesusfromdifferentsourcesandwritesanorderlyaccountforTheopolis.Theopolismaybeapersonoritmaybeageneralterm(God-lover)foranyChris8an.
Hadyoueverno?cedthisbeforewhenreadingLuke?
Ma3hew,Mark,andLukeareverysimilarinthewaytheypresentJesus.Theyarecalledthesynop8cGospels.TheGreekword“synop8cos”whichmeansto“seewith”oneanother.ThisposedwhatscholarscalltheSynop8cproblem.
Whatproblemshaveyouencounteredwhenreadingthesethreebooks?
Thesynop8cproblemislikeapuzzlebecauseoftherela8onshipamongthethreeGospels.
ReadMaMhew24:15andMark13:14
Bothhavetheiden8calparenthe8calinser8onassayingtothereader“Youknowwhatwerearetalkingabouthere.”Thelikelihoodofthembothincludingthisphraseisverysmall,indic8ngacommonsource.
WhatdoyouthinkabouttwodifferentGospelshavingacommonsource?
Ma3hew–1068versesMark-661versesLuke–1149verses
95%ofMark’sversesappearinMa3hew80%ofMark’sversesappearinLuke75%ofMark’sversesappearinboth
Whatisyouropinionofthiscommonality?
BeforewemoveawayfromMarkturntoMark19(don’treadyet)
Whatdoesyourcommentarytellyouaboutverses9-20?
TheGospelofMarkendsatverse8intwooftheoldestandmostrespectedmanuscripts.Since1611,olderandmoreaccuratemanuscriptshavebeendiscoveredandtheyaffirmthatvv.9-20werenotintheoriginalGospelofMark.
Whatdoyouthinkaboutthisaddi?onandwhydoyouthinkitwasaddedlater?
While the added ending offers no newinforma8on, nor does it contradict previouslyrevealed events and/or doctrine, both theexternal and internal evidence make it quitecertain that Mark did not write it. In reality,endinghisGospel inverse8withthedescrip8onof theamazementof thewomenat the tomb isen8relyconsistentwiththerestofthenarra8ve.Amazement at the Lord Jesus seems to be athemewithMarkDoesitbotheryouthattheseverseswereaddedlater?
AllfourGospelswerewri3eninGreekwiththepossibilityofsomeearlyaccountsbeingwri3eninorinfluencedbyAramaic(notHebrew).MarkwasthefirstoftheGospelstobewri3en.
IfMarkwasthefirsttobewriMen,thenwhydoesitnotappearfirstintheNewTestament?
TheproblemwiththeGospelofMarkforthefinaleditorsoftheNewTestamentwasthatitwasgrosslydeficient.FirstitissignificantlyshorterthantheotherGospels–withonly16chapters.ButmoreimportantishowMarkbeginshisGospelandhowheendsit.HehasnoaccountofthevirginbirthofJesus–orforthatma3er,anybirthofJesusatall.Infact,Joseph,husbandofMary,isnevernamedinMark’sGospelatall–andJesusiscalleda“sonofMary”.ButevenmoresignificantisMark’sstrangeending.HehasnoappearancesofJesusfollowingthevisitofthewomenonEastermorningtotheemptytomb!
TheauthorsaysthatwewouldexpecttheHolySpirittohaveeliminatedallconflictsamongthetexts.Instead,thereareplaceswheretheGospelstellconflic8ngaccountsofwhatJesussaidordid?
Whatareyourthoughtsontheseconflic?ngaccounts?
ThereissomematerialthatisuniquetoMa3hew.ThereissomematerialthatisuniquetoLuke.
Whatisyouropinionofthesedifferencesandwheredidtheycomefrom?
Thematerial(25%commontoMa3hewandLukebutnotMark)Ma3hewandLukeshareisvirtuallyallsayingsofJesus.
WhydoyouthinkitismostlysayingsofJesus?
Wenolongerhavetheoriginalsource.JoannesWeiss,aGermanscholar,callsthslostsourceQwhichstandsfor“quelle”Germanforsource.TheauthorsofMa3hewandLukereworkedtheircommonsourcestobe3errelatetotheirintendedaudiences.
Doesitbotheryouthatthesecommonsourceswerereworked?
ThereisalsoasourceuniquetoMa3hew,callitM.20%ofMa3hewisuniquetoMa3hew.ThereisalsoasourceuniquetoLuke,callitL.30%ofLukeisuniquetoLuke.
TheauthorsaysthatsomeChris8ansarebotheredthatthereweresourcesbehindtheGospelsratherthantheauthorsjustwroteundertheguidanceoftheHolySpirit.
Doesthisbotheryou?
Theauthorsaysthatsomeskep8csques8onthereliabilityoftheGospelsbecauseMarkwaswri3en40yearsaFerJesus’deathandMa3hewandLukes8lllater.
Doesthisbotheryou?Explainwhyorwhynot?
Howgoodareyouatrememberingwhathappened40yearsago?
TheauthorsaysthattheGospelswerewri3entorecordthestoryofJesusforapar8cularcommunityorgroup,forexampleMa3hewfortheJewsandLukefortheGen8les.
Howmuch?medoyouspendtryingtounderstandthecontextinwhichtheGospelswerewriMen?
DoesitmakeanydifferencethatthesebookswerewriMenforaspecificcommunity?
ReadJohn21:25
TheauthorsaysthateachGospelwriterhadtochoosewhatinforma8ontoinclude.Theirchoiceshadsomethingtodowiththeneedsandperspec8vesoftheirintendedaudience.
WhatdifferencesdoyouseeinMaMhewandLuke?
Luke’sGospelshowsemphasisonthepoorandmarginalizedwhichreflectsJesus’concerns.
Why?HaveyoueverreadLukeinthatcontext?
ReadLuke6:20-21 ReadMaMhew5:3,6
Whatdoyouthinkofthesedifferences?
